Wal-Mart and County-Wide Poverty
In: Social science quarterly, Band 87, Heft 2
Abstract
Objectives: This study seeks to identify the independent effect of Wal-Mart stores on changes in U.S. family-poverty rates at the county level. We draw on the contributions of a number of disciplines to enhance our understanding of the broader forces that influence poverty. Methods: A key innovation is that we estimate a two-stage regression model, in which an instrument is created for new Wal-Mart stores from a location equation; this reduces any potential endogeneity bias in the poverty-change equation. In addition, we use spatial econometric methods to correct for spatial dependence bias. Results: After controlling for other factors determining changes in the poverty rate over time, we find that counties with more initial (1987) Wal-Mart stores and counties with more additions of stores between 1987 and 1998 experienced greater increases (or smaller decreases) in family-poverty rates during the 1990s economic boom period. Conclusions: Wal-Mart creates both benefits and costs to communities in which the chain locates. These benefits and costs need to be weighed carefully by community decision-makers in deciding whether to provide public subsidies to the chain. Tables, 1, References. Adapted from the source document.
Themen
Sprachen
Englisch
Verlag
Blackwell Publishers, Malden MA
ISSN: 0038-4941
DOI
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